Second man files lawsuit against Whitehorse immigration consultant alleging he was scammed out of nearly $500k

Jackie Hong · CBC News

· Posted: May 27, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

A 2nd idiosyncratic has filed a suit against a Whitehorse migration advisor and 1 of her household members, alleging they scammed him retired of astir fractional a million dollars nether the guise of helping him with the Yukon Business Nominee Program. 

Franklin Lee filed a connection of assertion to the Yukon Supreme Court connected May 12 against Maggie Ozen, her migration consulting concern and her brother-in-law, Ivan Tang. 

The Hong Kong nationalist alleges that helium was told to put hundreds of thousands of dollars into a dry-cleaning task with Tang and paid tens of thousands much successful fees to Ozen, lone to beryllium trapped successful an untenable concern business and nary person to his migration goal.

He's suing for $471,000 as good arsenic different damages and costs. Besides suing for his wealth back, Lee wants the tribunal to state that his concern nominee programme statement is void oregon not enforceable against him. 

No statements of defence person been filed yet. Ozen, reached by phone, declined to remark connected the suit different than to accidental she wanted to stock the "true story" erstwhile the lawsuit is settled. Tang did not respond to a connection connected societal media. 

Lee's suit is the 2nd 1 filed this twelvemonth involving Ozen, her migration consulting concern and the Yukon Nominee Business Program.

Another man, Wenbin Zhang, sued Ozen, her hubby and different migration advisor earlier this twelvemonth alleging that helium mislaid his beingness savings aft investing successful a convenience store nether the content that it would assistance him get imperishable residency done the program. 

Vancouver-based lawyer Jimmy Burg, who's representing some Lee and Zhang successful their respective lawsuits, wrote successful an email that taken together, "these actions suggest a imaginable pattern."

"Ms. Ozen whitethorn beryllium utilizing the [business nominee programme to] cultivate relationships of spot with immigrants and induce them to put their funds into her assorted family-controlled entities connected the mendacious committedness of Canadian citizenship," helium alleged.  

"The Plaintiffs assertion that this behaviour represents a breach of fiduciary duty."

Neither lawsuit has been tested astatine trial. 

Lee's finances, migration prospects 'irreparably harmed,' suit claims

According to his connection of claim, Lee was introduced to Ozen successful February 2021 portion helium was inactive surviving successful Hong Kong, from which Lee and his household wanted to emigrate owed to governmental unrest. 

Ozen, the suit alleges, told Lee that she could "secure his migration to Canada" via the Yukon Business Nominee Program. 

The program, tally by the Yukon and national governments, offers foreigners a two-year enactment licence during which they indispensable acquisition oregon unfastened and tally a concern successful the territory. Should they conscionable programme requirements, which see fulfilling a programme statement that often outlines definite conditions and metrics their businesses indispensable meet, the Yukon authorities volition nominate them for imperishable residency.

The suit claims that Ozen told Lee she would put a "business task related to a dry-cleaning work and laundromat" into which Lee would put $300,000, and that if helium paid her $80,000, she would "liaise" with the Yukon and national governments connected his behalf. 

Ozen, the suit alleges, told Lee that helium would person a spouse successful the concern — Tang, whom Lee did not cognize was Ozen's brother-in-law and was besides trying to immigrate to Canada.

The concern was named Enviro Clean and opened successful June 2022. The connection of assertion makes a bid of allegations astir Ozen's engagement successful the set-up and operations, including having an invoice falsified, charging further fees and expenses and providing proposal contrary to program policies.

Tang, meanwhile, allegedly paid himself with concern funds without Lee's support and assaulted Lee "in a acceptable of rage" aft Lee asked him to "take connected much of the dry-cleaning enactment and a much equitable stock of concern absorption and operations." The suit besides claims Tang caused the concern to suffer wealth owed to "mismanagement," including telling dozens of customers that dry-cleaning instrumentality was breached erstwhile it wasn't.

Ozen, according to the lawsuit, withdrew arsenic Lee's migration typical this January while Tang "abandoned" the concern aft uncovering "another method to unafraid his migration status," leaving Lee's "legal and fiscal interests and quality to immigrate into Canada… irreparably harmed."